BOOKS Only one new book of interest this issue Osprey's latest addition to its popular Men-At-Arms Series is THE AMERICAN PLAINS INDIANS, by Jason Hook with color plates by Richard Hook. An excellent text and B&W illustrations complement the most beautiful color plates I have yet seen in this well-known series of military reference books. I can highly recommend this superb volume for anyone remotely interested in the American Plains Indian Wars. MAGAZINES Tony Adams' HELIOGRAPH, number 27, contains articles on the Burma Wars, by Paul Hinson and some rules modifications for big TSATF games, by Bob Beattie. Anybody who plays Colonial wargames with Greenfield's THE SWORD AND THE FLAME should not be without a subscription to THE HELIOGRAPH. The current cost is $5.00 for 10 issues from Tony Adams, 301 N. Wille St., Mt. Prospect, IL 60056. MILITARY HISTORY (the American one) for August contains a very nice article on the Boxer Rebellion, 'Siege by Righteous Fists', by Justin F. Gleichauf. As is the norm with this excellent publication, the article is complemented by some excellent illustrations, both color and black and white. There is one especially nice color plate showing the fight between the Chinese Imperial troops and Admiral Seymour's column of sailors and marines. The Imperial troops in their medium blue uniforms with orange trim will soon be taking a place in my Chinese wargame army! The July issue of MILITARY MODELLING has a good, brief article by Ian Knight on 'The Mahdists' with illustrations by Richard Scollins. Good information on basic Ansar dress, weapons and flags appearing for the first time in a major publication. Thanks also to Ian for his listing of S&S and our own Doug Johnson as sources. Ian Knight appears again in MINIATURE WARGAMES No. 24 (May) with an article on a Wild West Skirmish game, 'Bad Day at Black Buttes; A Western Gunfight.' A nice description of a good old fashioned 'shoot 'em up!' MINIATURE WARBAMES No. 25 (June) has a good article on 'Scratchbuilding Zulu War Transport in 25mm', also by Ian Knight. The article covers mostly how to build one of the Dx Wagons typical of the Zulu War. This issue also has the first part of a series on Frontier Skirmish Games (Wild West) by Michael B. Bell, 'Gunfighters, Bandits and Outlaws.' Issue 26 (July) of MINIATURE WARBAMES is just full of Colonial related articles. First there's how to build a British fort from the Zulu War by Ian Weekly of Battlements, then there's 'Wings Over Somaliland: The Fall of the Mad Mullah, 1920,' by Lawrence James, and lastly there is part 2 of Michael Bell's Wild West series, this installment covering weapons. SOLDIERS OF THE QUEEN (the Journal of the Victorian Military Society), No. 41, contains the usual array of good articles and reviews. This issue featuring "British Cavalry Bit Bosses, 1860-1914,' bu J. T. Thomson, 'Lt. Henry Hollingworth Harward,' by Malcolm Stanley, and 'Colonial Military History in Australia in 1985,' by Peter Stanley. FIGURES I've just received FALCON MINIATURES' 25mm Arab figures and, for the most part, they are as good as anything that Falcon has put out recently. They will make fine adversaries for the new, re-designed French Foreign Legionnaires. My only complaints are that the horses with their flowing saddle cloths look too Medieval. I know that Falcon is planning some Medievals, and I wonder if they are trying to cut some corners here? The mounted Arab on guard looks like something right out of THE WIND AND THE LION! I love him! The others are good, as well, though some of their hoods cover too much of their faces, I think, and the Arab on foot firing rifle has a perfectly smooth hood... a bit unrealistic looking, I think. Nevertheless, I think they'd look great once painted-up and on your game table. FRONTIER MINIATURES' latest releases are their 25mm Franco-Prussian range. Though not well-suited to the Colonial Era, one can probably draw some figures out of this range that can be used in some Colonial campaigns. The sculpting is superb and the detailing probably the crispest yet out of Frontier. By the time you get this, Frontier should be done with their 15mm Boxer Rebellion range. This series of figures will contain the same 49 numbers which their 25mm Range contains. Here's a good chance for those of you wanting to game the Boxer Rebellion in 15mm to get some top quality figures! GALLIA has released their 15mm Northwest Frontier tribesmen. The figures are well-sculpted and detailed, yet they are in the same squat style of previous Gallia 15's. This anatomy problem is less apparent in the mounted figures than in the foot figures. These guys look great with other Gallia figures and not bad with other 15mm figures. STONE MOUNTAIN has released their 15mm British, Mahdists, Pathans and Zulus. I'm waiting for some samples before I pass judgement, but I'm assuming that they're every bit as good as their 15mm French Foreign Legion and Arab figures. TRADITION 25mm wargaming figures are once again available from Tradition Scandinavia, P.O. Box 21170, 5-100 31 Stockholm, Sweden. You can get a listing for two International Reply Coupons ($0.36 each at your Post Office). Foot figures are $0.30 each plus 30% Air Mail postage, so their prices are quite competitive with domestic manufacturers. Finally, I've recently received some of the Whittlesey Miniatures figures from the early African campaigns and the Maori Wars. Though not as crisp, clean or well-detailed as some of the 'big name' figures on the market, these figures make up for their deficits in their subject matter. the early Africa ranges contain some really nice Chief figures as well as some downright bizarre native spearmen, archers and musketmen. The real gems of the Whittlesey figures, are, however, their Maori Wars figures. First of all, nobody i has ever done the Maori Wars before, so these guys have scooped the market. Second, the figures are pretty well done. The British/New Zealanders are a bit stiff except for the British Infantryman advancing, which I like, but he suffers from a rather thin musket and bayonet which results in quite a bit of breakage during transit. The Royal Navy Rocket crew is excellent, with the Midshipman in his 'top hat' and the three 'ordinaries' manning the rocket tube. The Maoris are all really good. Each comes armed with a club and/or double barrelled shotgun (the favorite weapons of the Maoris). I highly recommend these figures for some rather neglected Colonial campaigns which are well suited to the skirmish type wargames currently in vogue. The figures, sadly, are currently only available from overseas via Stratagem, 18 Lover's Lane, Newark, Nottinghamshire, N624 1HZ England. OTHER ITEMS Greenfield Hobbies has released the first supplement for their popular THE SWORD AND THE FLAME Colonial Era wargame rules. This addition contains rules for the Boxer Rebellion, the French Foreign Legion, answers to most frequently asked questions, the individual fire tables, several optional rules and a set of rules for altering the game to the French and Indian War! All except the last item have appeared in print previously.... some in the Yaquinto newsletter, some in THE COURIER, and others in THE HELIOGRAPH. This supplement costs $6.00 and is well-worth the price just to get all of these changes, etc. into one place. My only critical comment about this booklet concerns the rather amateur illustrations used as 'filler' throughout the publication. Surely Greenfield could have done better either to omit this artwork or to pay a ruputable artist to make their drawings. For those of you who have been to 'chicken' (or haven't had the time) to scratch-build a gunboat for your 25ee Colonial armies, you no longer have an excuse! Lindberg has released a plastic model of a sternwheel riverboat that provides an excellent starting point for a colonial gunboat. Lindberg's kit No. 713, "Southern Belle Stern Wheel River Boat' sells for $10.00 and, though listed on the box as 1/64 scale, fits in beautifully with today's 25ee wargame figures. I measured the crew figures that come with the boat and they are exactly 25ee tall! The boat finishes to just about 12" long which is just right for the average size wargame table. I highly recommend this kit. Finally, a film review. Though I haven't seen it (but I will be while this issue is at the printer) I highly recommend the New Zealand film 'Utu', which is currently making the rounds to "foreign film' and 'art film' theaters. This film has gotten excellent reviews in both SOLDIERS OF THE QUEEN and MINIATURE WARGAMES. The subject is apparently the last bit of resistance offered by the Maoris against the New Zealand constabulary. The acting is good and the photography apparently beautiful. This film should be of interest to any military historian and especially to the Colonial Era enthusiast. It may provide some encouragement for some of you to game the Maori Wars with the new figures from Whittlesey which I reviewed above. Back to Table of Contents -- Savage and Soldier Vol. XVII No. 2 Back to Savage and Soldier List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 2004 by Milton Soong. This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com